In Honor of Memorial Day

In honor of Memorial Day, I thought I would share these words that were written by Brigadier General Benjamin Grubb Humphreys, who commanded a brigade of Mississippians in the Army of Northern Virginia. I think the same ideals that motivated Humphreys over 150 years ago still run deep in Mississippians today:

Brigadier General Benjamin Grubb Humphreys - Library of Congress


My nativity fixed my allegiance to Mississippi.  Beneath her soil my ancestors and my children slept in death.  All I held dear on earth family, friends and property welded me to that soil by the strongest cement of nature.  Her God was my God; her people were my people; her interests were my interests; her sympathies were my sympathies.  I could not, did not deliberate after war was inaugurated and brought to her door-sills.  I cast my lot with my mother state, and as she had crossed the Rubicon, I determined to march with her armies, whether her war-path led to Rome or ruin.    

Mississippians in the Cavalry

The third major branch in which Mississippians served during the Civil War was the cavalry. The basic unit of organization for a cavalry unit was the regiment, which consisted of ten companies or squadrons, each with from 60 – 80 privates. A captain commanded each company and had under him two lieutenants. A colonel commanded the regiment, aided by a lieutenant colonel who was second in command and a major who was third in line to lead the unit.

Two of the primary jobs of Civil War cavalry were to serve as scouts and conduct hit and run raids against the enemy’s rear. As scouts the cavalry was constantly in the saddle, out in front of the army, acting as the eyes and ears of the commanding general, gathering intelligence on the enemy’s dispositions and intentions. At the same time they screened their own army to prevent the enemy’s cavalry from gathering the same type of intelligence. As raiders, the cavalry would try to strike where the enemy was weak and inflict as much damage as possible and fading away before they could react.

A third job for the cavalry manifested itself as the war went on – serving as mounted infantry. Rebel cavalry was widely used in this role from 1864 until the end of the war. There were several reasons for this: military reverses put the south on the defensive, thus limiting offensive uses for the cavalry. Also heavy infantry losses could only be made up by using cavalry to fill in the gaps. The ability to quickly reinforce an area under threat of Union attack made the cavalry invaluable as the war went on and the south had to cope with large Union armies with fewer men in the ranks to oppose them.

The vast majority of Mississippi cavalrymen served in the war’s western theater, a huge expanse of territory spanning the region between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. Over 70 regiments or battalions of Mississippi cavalry served in this area, the lone exception being the Jeff Davis Legion of Cavalry that served in the Army of Northern Virginia.

Lieutenant Colonel Franklin A. Montgomery of the 1st Mississippi Cavalry wrote in his memoir, "The busy and constant service of the cavalry, its innumerable fights, and constant loss of life, is rarely if ever mentioned." Photo from Reminiscences of a Mississippian in Peace and War (1901).

Mississippians in the Artillery

Postwar photograph of Major Charles Swett, commander of the Warren Light Artillery from Vicksburg, Mississippi - Photo courtesy of the Old Court House Museum, Vicksburg, Mississippi

An elite and highly skilled branch of service, the artillery was also the smallest; the men who served the guns made up only 18% of the Confederate army. Civil War artillery was broken down into two main classifications: heavy artillery and field or light artillery. It was in the light artillery that most Mississippians served, as these guns were mobile enough to keep up with the army when it marched.

There were two basic types of light artillery: mounted artillery in which the men marched beside their guns, and horse artillery, sometimes called flying artillery, in which every man in the unit rode a horse. Because of its mobility, horse artillery was often attached to the cavalry.

During the Civil War artillery was organized around a battery, which consisted of either four or six guns. A captain commanded a typical battery, and under him lieutenants commanded every two guns, known as a section. A sergeant, known as the chief of the piece, commanded an individual gun. Under him were two corporals, one known as the gunner who actually aimed the cannon, while the other was in charge of the caisson that carried the reserve ammunition for the gun.

At full strength each battery had 155 men including officers and non-commissioned officers. Of the privates, 70 worked the cannon, and another 52 were drivers for the 72 horses needed to pull the guns, caissons, forge, and battery wagon.

The Mississippians who served in the artillery tended to be a bit better educated that the average soldier because the highly complex artillery pieces needed intelligent, mechanically adept men to crew and service them.

The majority of Mississippi artillerymen served in the western theater of the war, which only made since given the long period of time needed to raise, equip, and train a battery of artillery. Because of this, most were unavailable when the first enthusiastic volunteers from Mississippi flocked to Richmond, Virginia, to help defend the Confederate capitol in 1861.

The largest concentration of Mississippi artillery units in any one place during the war was with the Army of Vicksburg in 1863. Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton had eleven batteries of Mississippi artillery under his command during the siege of Vicksburg.

The next largest concentration of Mississippi artillerymen was with the Army of Tennessee in 1864. A return covering the period from May 1 – September 8, 1864, showed seven batteries of Mississippi artillery with the army.

Although most Mississippi artillerymen served in the western theater, the state did have two batteries of light artillery serving in the Army of Northern Virginia.

Mississippians in the Confederate Army

Mississippians who served in the army were generally in one of three branches: infantry, artillery, or cavalry. In the post I will give a brief overview of how Mississippi infantry regiments were organized and where they served during the Civil War.

The infantry was by far the largest branch of the army, and the basic unit of that army was the regiment, which at full strength numbered about 1,000 men. After the twin killers of combat and disease had taken their toll, however, the typical Mississippi regiment had less than half that number present for duty.

A Civil War infantry regiment was commanded by a colonel, who was aided by a lieutenant colonel who was second in command, and a major who was third in line to lead the unit. At full strength each regiment consisted of ten companies of 100 men each, with a captain commanding each company.

The formation of companies took place in local communities throughout Mississippi. The initial task of organizing the company was usually carried out by someone of influence in the area, and once complete, an election was held by the soldiers to choose the officers that would lead them. Very often the man who organized the company was elected captain, and the other officers were selected from among the most notable men in the community. As a source of local pride each company selected a distinctive nickname, such as the “Jeff Davis Guards,” “Clark County Rangers,” or “Yankee Terrors.”

After the regimental organization was complete, each company of the regiment was given a  letter designation from A through K, skipping the letter J. This omission was done to avoid possible confusion in written orders, since in the cursive script of the day the letters I and J looked much alike.

The Mississippians who served in the infantry fought for the most part in one of three armies. In the eastern theater of the war, twelve Mississippi infantry regiments numbering over 16,000 men fought under Robert E. Lee in the Army of Northern Virginia.

The second army was the Army of Tennessee, which protected the Confederate heartland and was by far the most widely traveled of the Rebel armies. For example, the 10th Mississippi Infantry served in the Army of Tennessee for most of its existence, and during the course of the war campaigned through the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Sergeant John C. Rietti of the 10th Mississippi later estimated that the regiment marched 3,500 miles on foot and 5,000 miles by boat and train during the war.

Mississippians were well represented in the Army of Tennessee – an abstract dated November 22, 1862, showed fourteen infantry regiments and one infantry battalion from the state serving in this army. In early 1864 the Army of Tennessee was heavily reinforced from troops serving in Mississippi, creating the largest concentration of Magnolia State infantry regiments to ever serve in one single army – thirty-three regiments or battalions.

On June 24, 1864, the Meridian Daily Clarion wrote of the Mississippians in the Army of Tennessee: “Mississippi has between thirty-five and forty regiments with General Johnston’s army. After the battle is over our readers will hear of deeds performed by Mississippians that will be ‘chronicled in story and blazoned in bright gold.”

The third major army in which Mississippians served was the Army of the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana, better known by the much handier title, the Army of Vicksburg. This army had among its responsibilities the defense of Vicksburg, and is best known for the forty-seven days it spent besieged inside the city in 1863.

Mississippians made up a considerable part of the Army of Vicksburg – a return for March 31, 1863, showed the state had twenty infantry regiments and three infantry battalions with this command. In addition, there were three regiments, three battalions, and one brigade of Mississippi militia attached to the army as well.

Mississippians at War

Four long and incredibly bloody years. The Confederate States of America existed as a nation for four years, fighting against a foe that was larger, better equipped, and superior in almost every category save one – the determination and fighting spirit of its soldiers.

The Southern battle for national survival lasted as long as it did for one reason – Rebels by the thousands were willing to lay down their lives and defend their homes to the last man and last cartridge.

Many of these men were Mississippians, and it is to them that this blog is dedicated.